Folding bayonet for firearms



April 12, 1949. G. w. PATCHETT 2,467,270

' FOLDING BAYONET FOR FIREARMS Filed June 16, 1944 F $060000 O-OOOOOOO 7 ul lmm. BM m Attorneys Patented Apr. 12, 1949 UNITED STATES m5 owes Application June 16, 1944', Serial No, 540,693 In Great Britain March 13, 1944 5 Claims. (01. 42-86) l This invention relates to a new or improved folding bayonet for firearms. v

.The object of the inventionis to provide, an additional weapon of a hook-ondefence that normally can lie parallel to the longitudinal axis of the firearm in its folded or vinoperative condition, but when; occasion demands or at close uarters anhe in a t re as h bayonet thereafter, snapping itself under resilient urge intoa forward and locked condition for operative While the saidefoldingbayonet, the subject. of the present invention, .is applicable to every type of, rifle, carbine or like. weapon, it is more pa ticularly useful when applied ,toiirearm's of the automatic, class, and the description set forth hereafter shows; the said bayonetso applied.

, Preferably the bayonet can haye a length that isapproximately that between the muzzle of the firearm. and a point adjacentthe/trigger guard, the said bayonet being hinged 'aboutthe barrel muzzle and, folding below the barrel, barrel cas-' ing and forward stock, if any.

The invention consists in a folding bayonet fonfirearms havingin combination a c1ip,c'o11;a r or like support about the muzzle of the saidfirearm, a bayonet hinged within said clip, a spring loaded plunger housed in the substance of shoulder of said bayonet adjacentsaid hinge, a recess in said muzzle collar or clip to receive and hold said plungena resilient device loadable on foldingto impel said bayonet to an operatively fixed condition in release and resilient catch means to lock said bayonet in a folded condition and instantly release same therefrom at will. r

. The said bayonet is devised to lie parallel With the longitudinal axis of the firearm wheni'n the folded condition and the resiliehtmeans giving the urge to the bayonet takingand followingan ajr uate path to fixity in an operative condition is placed adjacent the bayonet hinge. v

.The pointof the bayonetis, adapted to snap into a resiliently displaceablecatch, said catch being under control of a spring-loaded thumb press lever, a fingerguar'd intervenin between the bayonet blade pointandthe thumb release.

In orderthat the inventionr'naybe morefully described, v'r'efere'hce is made to the accompanying drawings wherein a .pre .e ed embo rnent of the invention is illustrated and wherein:

Fig. 1 is a curtailed longitudinal elevation of a firearm of the automatic type, and the bayonet in its folded condition,

Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly in section, of

the muzzle part of the firearm with the bayonet in its locked operative condition,

Fig. 3 is an. end view of Fig. 1 facing the muzzle of the firearm,

' Fig. 4 is. a transverse 4-4inFig. '1, v. a

.Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view on an enlarged scale of the resilient bayonet pusher and its housmg, a Fig. 6 is a transverse sateen taken. on the line 6-BinFig.1,

Fig, 7 is a transverse section taken on the line 1-! in 1,

. Fig. 8 is an elevation ofthe bayonet catch and control connection with thumb lever. v

Fig. 9 is a cross section taken on line 9'-9 of Fig.8.

Referring to the drawings and to Figs. 1', 2 and 3 the firearm barrelv .I is provided with a muzzle nose ring 2 perforated, as at 3, one of which said perforationsjd constitutes the looking. socket. The nose ring Icohstitutes, theforwardsupport for the casing fi and over this. has; ing is disposed a collar or clip}, fast therewith, Said collar 5 is formed with lugs 6 adapted to receive the tang v.I .of, the bayonet blade 8. .A pivot pin .9 passes through the lugs. 15' and tang Land upon said pin thebayonet 8 freely hinges. Set in theshoulder of the bayonet} is a springsection taken on the line loaded plunger .l'i, said plunger normally prot'ruding as shown. in Fig. 1", but capable of manual withdrawal by means .of the lknurled knob I 2 againstaction of afsprin'g l3. A resilient springloaded pusher, or impelling device I4 is mounted within a cylinder l5, secured between theexter nal face of the fi rearincaslingll, and barrel i see Fig. ,2). Said cylinder 15. isclosed by a threaded cap I6; Springs I! urge the pusher or impeller to occupy a limit of travel p osition as shown in Fig. 5. ,Sa'idpusher is located adjacent the hinge ,9 to bear upon the back ofthe bayonet blade or shoulder l0. ffh'e bayonet blade adjacent it'spoint is adapted to engage a resilient catch .20 .(see 6, '7 and 8). .Said catchlq is capable of angular movement about its pivot spindle 2.! in a plane right angles .tothe blade movement upon its pivot 9. The catch 20 is fixed to the spindle or arbor 2!, the latter being journalled in a bearing .22 fast in protector plate or shield 2.3. At the rear pf the protector plate or shield 23 and fast with the spindle 2 l is a thumbpress lever 24, said lever being urged away from the trigger housing 25 by a leaf or like spring 26. To enable the catch 20 to have a limited angular movement, the end of its boss 21 adjacent to the bearing 22 is of segmental form and the adjacent end of the bearing 22 is also of segmen'tal form, these segmental portions meshing but forming less than a complete circle, thus giving an angular range of motion to said catch according to the arc of the peripheral gap 28 thus formed between these segmental portions and providing limit stops for such angular motion. This is shown in Fig. 9 wherein a side elevation of the catch is illustrated looking in the direction indicated by the arrows on line D-D, Fig. 8.

The operation of the invention is as follows: Assuming the bayonet to be folded and in its inoperative condition, as shown in Fig. 1, the resilient pusher or impeller I4 is loaded and presses heavily upon the bayonet shoulder the bayonet is caught about its point in the catch 20, the latter being resiliently restrained from movement by the leaf spring 26. release the bayonet 8 the gunner presses the thumb lever 24 which is conveniently adjacent the trigger I8 this flexes the spring 26 causing the spindle 2| to rotate, and thus cause the catch to move away from the bayonet 8 and. release it. The bayonet is now free and has arcuate movement about the pivot pin 9 under the influence of the spring loaded pusher I4. The bayonet gains sufficient momentum to Swing 180", the spring loaded plunger H engaging and i collapsing against the face of the nose ring 3 until said plunger in its path enters the locking socket 3a down which it travels maintaining thereby the said bayonet inan operative position aligned with the rifle or firearm. This action is substantially instantaneous, but can even be expedited by giving the firearm an upward jerk when the bayonet has once started on its arcuate swing. To release and fold the bayonet, the plunger pin I2 is pulled, withdrawing the plunger II. The bayonet 8 is now free to hinge and by passing the hand down the back of the blade of the bayonet its point engages the catch 20 as previously described.

I claim:

1. In a firearm, a barrel, a spaced casing surrounding said barrel, a nose ring connecting said barrel and casing at the muzzle end, a clip at the muzzle end of the firearm, a releasable catch, and an impelling device comprising a cylinder mounted between said barrel and easing, a pusher reciprocable in said cylinder, a spring urging said pusher outwardly in a direction transversely of said barrel, av bayonet pivoted to said clip to swing rearwardly into folded position longitudi nally of the barrel and to load the pusher actuating spring of said impelling device and engage said catch to hold the bayonet in folded position against the loaded action of said impelling device, and to swing forwardly into an extended position longitudinally of the barrel, and means.

for locking the bayonet in said forwardly extended position, said impelling device being operative on the bayonet to swing it forwardly into said extended position longitudinally of the barrel and into engagement with said locking means when said catch is released.

2. The combination according to claim 1, wherein said nose ring is provided with a plurality of perforations, and including a spring-loaded To instantly 4 plunger mounted on the bayonet adjacent to its pivot to move longtiudinally of the bayonet and engageable in one of said perforations in the nose ring when the bayonet is swung about its pivot into extended position to lock the bayonet in said position.

3. The combination of a firearm having a barrel and barrel casing, and a clip, a releasable catch and a resilient impelling device mounted on said casing, said impelling device acting in a direction transversely of the barrel, a bayonet pivoted to said clip to swing rearwardly into folded position longitudinally of the barrel and to load said impelling device and engage said catch to hold the bayonet in. folded position against the loaded action of said impelling device, a protector plate fixed to and projecting laterally from the side of said firearm, a spindle journaled in said plate, said releasable catch being fixed to said spindle at the forward side of said plate, and a manually operable releasing lever fixed on said spindle at the rear side of said plate whereby said catch is rotatable by said spindle to release the bayonet by the opera-' tion of said lever.

4. Thecombination of a firearm having a barrel and barrel casing, and a clip, a releasable catch and a resilient impelling device mounted on said barrel casing, said impelling device acting in a direction transversely of the barrel, a bayonet pivoted to said clip to swing rearwardly into folded position longitudinally of the barrel and to load said impelling device and engage said catch to hold the bayonet in folded position against the loaded action of said impelling device, a bearing fixed to the side of said firearm; a spindle journaled in said bearing, said catch being fixed to the forward end of said spindle to rotate therewith, a lever fixed on the rear end of said spindle, a spring acting on said lever to hold said catchin engagement with the bayonet when folded, and said lever being operable to manually rotate said spindle to release the catch;

5. The combination defined in claim 4, wherein the adjacent portions of said catch and bearing are of segmental form and are in meshing relation to provide stops to limit the rotation of the catch under the action of the spring.

GEORGE WILLIAM PATCHETT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 194,489 Wallis Aug. 21, 1877 517,555 Reed Apr. 3, 1894, 598,896 Berglund Feb. 15, 1898 946,132 Hull Jan. 11, 1910 1,301,293 Molvig Apr. 22, 1919 1,329,313 Seabury et al. Jan. 27, 1920' 2,047,401 Whitted July 14, 1936, 2,330,637 Spagnolo Sept. 28, 1943 FQREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 20,335 Germany Nov. 27, 1882 494,068 Germany Mar. 18, 1930: 664,561 Germany Aug. 18, 1938 

